Baoding Travel Attraction:

Mancheng Han Tombs

Mancheng Han Dynasty Tombs are located at half way up the hill 1.5 km west of Mancheng County, 25 km west of Baoding.
This tomb complex is composed of the tomb of Liu Sheng and his wife Douwan, 120meters apart. Liu Sheng was the first emperor of Zhongshan State, Western Han Dynasty. (During the Han Dynasty, the whole empire was managed in the system of enfeoffment. Each nobles had his own piece of land to administer. Liu Sheng was one of the sons of Emperor Jing of the central government, he was appointed as the first emperor of Zhongshan State (What is now Baoding.) in 154BC, and died in 113BC, he stayed on the throne for 42 years. So the construction of the tomb lasted 42 years.
As a tradition of that time, the husband and wife were buried separately in the same burial place. And also it was a good choice to have the tomb built half way up the hill. The laborers spent over 40 years digging the tomb caves and polishing them with the most primitive working equipments and methods. Liu Sheng's Tomb is 51.7 meters long, 37.5 meters wide, and 6.8 meters tall, with a total volume of 2700 cubic meters. The tomb is made of the passageway, the southern and northern side tunnel, the middle hall and the back hall. It is in the back hall that the coffin was rested.
Douwan's Tomb is 39.7 meters long, but with a longer side tunnel, and the total volume is over 3000 cubic meters.
There are over 10,000 articles excavated from these two tombs in total. Many of them are among the top category of the unearthed artifacts, like the Changxin Palatial Lantern, the Jade Clothes sewn with gold thread.
Wangdu Han Tomb
Baoding, in the past, was a comparatively prosperous region. Wangdu Eastern Han Tomb is located 37 km south of Baoding, in Wangdu County.
This tomb belongs to Sun Cheng(?-132AD), a marquis of the Eastern Han Dynasty(25AD-220AD).
This tomb was built along a north-to-south axle, with a remained earth mound of eleven meters high. The tomb is 46.7 meters long , 32,7 meters wide. From the very southern end are the passageway, the tomb gate, the front hall, east and west storerooms, the middle hall, the west and east side-halls, the back hall (the coffin hall), a niche in the northern wall.
The most magnificent discovery in this tomb is the fresco in the front hall. The fresco was painted on the four walls and the arches of the doors in black, yellow and red colors. 43 centimeters above the ground is a yellow line, below this yellow line, animals and birds were drawn. And above this line, was the painting of different people. Beside each person, words were written, telling his occupation.
Because this tomb had been robbed in history, not many things were left, except a few potteries, stonewares, and lacquerwares.
Yan State Capital Relics
During the Warring State Period (475BC-221BC),China was composed by seven major states. They were Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zha, Wei, and Qin. Among them, Yan state was located at what is now northern Hebei Province and Beijing. The Yan State had its capital built in Beijing, Called Ji at that time, and its sub-capital in Yixian County, between the northern Yi Shui River and the southern Yi Shui River.
The Yan Capital was built in a rectangular city wall, 8 kms from west to east, and 4 kms from north to south. 3 city wall gates have been excavated.
The whole city was divided into the eastern part and the western part by a city moat. The eastern part served mainly as the palatial area, residential area and the handicraft industry area. The western part was built much later, served mainly as a sub-city for the safety of the eastern one.
What are still remained on the ground are:
The western city wall, 4-6 meters high, 1500 meters long.
The south-western corner of the city wall, 10 meters tall, 15 meters long.
Over 13 different foundation of the ancient palace, 11 meters tall, some of them 10,000 sq. meters large.
23 ancient tombs belonging to the royal family.
And a large number of articles that were excavated from the relics, including weapons, coins, ironware and potteries.
A tiny exhibition hall is available for visitors

Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda

Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda (also called Dingzhou Pagoda by the locals) is located in Dingzhou County, 80 km south of Baoding.
This pagoda was started to be built in 1001, and finished in 1055, in Song Dynasty. It has 13 stories, 84.2 meters high. It is the highest existing pagoda made of bricks and wood In China.
The pagoda takes an octagonal shape, with an inner pagoda inside almost the same size, a spinning corridor lay between.
Quyang Porcelain Kiln Relic
In Song Dynasty(960-1127), there were five major state-managed porcelain kilns in China, producing magnificent chinaware for the royal family and the nobles. Quyang porcelain was one of them. Because Quyang County was then under the administration of Dingzhou County, thus it was called Ding Porcelain Kiln.
Ding Porcelain Kiln is located 120 km southwest of Baoding. 13 large piles of broken chinaware are scattered in 2 sq. km area, each of them is around 15 meters high.
The main products were: bowel, dish, basin, jar, bottle, oven, and toys. The Ding Porcelain took an important part in China porcelain history.
Three-kingdom Relics
The Three-kingdom period(220-280) took an much important role in Chinese history. The emperor of Shu, Liu Bei, was born in Zhuozhou (used to be called Fanyang), 80 km north of Baoding. Zhang Fei, Liu Bei's main follower, was also born in Zhuozhou.
What is still left for tourists are: The Three Brothers' Temple (Liu, Guan, Zhang), Zhang Fei's hometown, Zhang Fei's ancient well, Zhang Fei's Temple, and the movie studio where the TV drama Three Kingdom was shot.
Northern-mount Temple
The Northern Mount Temple is located in Quyang County, 110 km southwest of Baoding.
In China, there are five famous mountains, they are Northern Mount-Heng, Southern Mount-Heng, Eastern Mount-Tai, Western Mount-Hua, Middle Mount-Song.
Until 1660, the Northern Mount was in Quyang, and the temple for the Northern Mount God was built here. (After 1660, the Qing Dynasty emperor renamed another mountain as the Northern Mount.)
The most outstanding remain is the fresco on both the western and eastern walls in the main hall, 6.5 meters high, 17.7 meters long. In the northern wall, a larger piece of fresco was painted.
Anguo
Anguo, once called Qizhou in ancient times, is located 190 km south of Beijing. Since Han Dynasty(206BC-24AD),Anguo has become the largest marketing center of Chinese herbs in Northern China.
Anguo is also an important herb planting and processing base in China. Every family here grows herbs and almost everyone is involved with the herbal industry.
There is a long tradition of cooking with herbs in Anguo. The famous Anguo herbal food makes more and more people comprehend that the best way to take care of yourself is to go to the herbal food table than to the doctor.
Places for visitors are: the herbs market, plantation farm, processing unit, the temple for the king of herbs.